We closed most of our ages ago. It’s nice to see one of the biggest forces in the country following suit.

GMPĂ‚Â ChiefĂ‚Â Constable, Peter Fahy said that this was OK because nobody ever uses them and they cost too much money. My force used this same line when they wanted to do away with night shifts in one of the divisions, except it was total bollocks. I have no idea whether what Fahy says is also total bollocks as I don’t work in GMP, but being as he’s a chief officer, I’ll err on the side of total bollocks until proved otherwise.

I often get to speak to members of the public in my role in the control room, far too often, if I’m honest. And whilst they have been quite vocal on their thoughts about how the constabulary is performing, I’ve never spoken to one who said they were thankful that their local police station closed and they could take the opportunity for a lovely 15 to 20 mile drive to the nearest town with a front desk.

Doubtless, somehere in the chief’s spin will be something about ‘improving the service to the public’.